True Love Series

The Greek writer Lucian who lived from 120-200 A.D. made an observation about Christians. He said, “It is incredible to see the fervor with which the people of that religion help each other in their wants. They spare nothing. Their first [leader, Jesus], has put it into their heads that they are brethren.”(1) Lucian said that Christians “spare nothing.” To “spare nothing” when helping others in need is an indication of something called unconditional love. I’ve entitled this message “True Love,” and unconditional love is what we are going to take a look at this morning.

Love is an extraordinary gift from God, and it’s the source of the Lord’s presence within His creation known as man and woman. It is a gift meant to unite creature and Creator, but the creature, or mankind, has distorted the meaning of love and separated himself from the God of love. Some of the distortions about love, are that love is purely physical, or that love is only a temporary state. But, as we are going to see this morning, these interpretations about love are way off base.

The Origin of Love (vv. 7-8)

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

John begins by telling us that love comes from God, and the person who does not love, does not know God. We cannot begin to understand this statement until love is first defined. So, what is love? Webster defines love as a strong liking for someone or something, or a passionate affection for another person.(2) But we read in verse 7 that love is from God, a being who is not of this world. Notice that Webster’s definition of love involves objects of the world, using the word “person” or “something.” The problem with a human definition of love is that people tend to view the world only with the eye instead of through the spirit. We must remember that love is of God; therefore, a human definition will often fall short in describing love.

In Modern English “love” is one single word that encompasses many different meanings, creating misunderstandings in communicating godly love. We need to take a look at the original New Testament Greek in order to understand what type of love John is talking about. In Greek, words for love include storge, philia, eros, and agape. Each of these words has a distinct meaning. Storge, for example, is the love between family members. Philia is a friendship between kindred spirits. Eros, which is not even found in the New Testament, is sexual desire. This is where we get the English word “erotic” by the way. Agape is godly love, or unconditional love. As one person put it, “Eros is all take; philia is give-and-take; agape is all give.”(3)

All throughout our main passage, all references to love are the Greek word agape. The love spoken of in 1 John 4:7-21 is the unconditional kind; it is “all give.” The Christian psychologist M. Scott Peck tells us concerning love that it is “the will to extend oneself for the purpose of nurturing . . . another’s spiritual growth.”(4) If we have the love that is from God – this thing called agape – then we will willingly extend ourselves to reach out and help others.

The Sacrifice of Love (vv. 9-11)

9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Right here, John presents the ultimate example of godly love. Christ’s death on the cross for you and me is the greatest love that anyone could express. Jesus tells us in the gospel of John, chapter 15, verse 13, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” The sacrifice of one’s own life for another human being is the greatest act of love, or agape that can be shown.

Now, a person doesn’t have to literally sacrifice their life in order to lay it down. Laying down one’s life for a brother or sister can be done through servanthood. It can be dedicating one’s time to help someone in need, or lending a listening ear when you really don’t feel like it. It has been said, “Sacrificial love is not loss, but gain . . . In its true meaning, sacrificial love is natural and spiritual increase. It is the gradual giving of the lower for the higher, the lesser for the better, and the least for the most.”(5) Agape is humbling oneself to sacrifice and serve others, and in return one will gain everything.